Gateway to Change
by Barefoot XO
Summary: Hunting for a demon in Washington DC leads Riley Finn into a foothold situation very different than he's ever experienced before. Flung into a world of ray guns and aliens, Finn will be remade as the leader of SG-3. World 703 in the Crisis of Infinite Scoobies.
1. Foothold Situation

**_Gateway to Change_**

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Hunting for a demon in Washington DC leads Riley Finn into a foothold situation very different than he's ever experienced before. Flung into a world of ray guns and aliens, Finn will be remade as the leader of SG-3. World 703 in the Crisis of Infinite Scoobies.

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I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Stargate. They belong to Joss Whedon and MGM, I think... This chapter contains spoilers for the SG-1 episode 'Foothold'.

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 ** _Chapter I: Foothold Situation_**

Major Riley Finn had been trying to put Sunnydale and Buffy behind him for quite some time. He wasn't particularly proud of how he'd acted before he finally left, but he was certainly glad that he had. He was man enough to admit that he simply couldn't be in a relationship where he wasn't the strong one sometimes. It wasn't that he had a problem with strong women were great. It just would have occasionally been nice to be the strong one for once. Buffy had, without even intending to, made him feel like a powerless weakling. He had to leave before he truly developed a complex. Frankly the Initiative had screwed him up more than enough.

It was about a month after leaving Sunnydale that Riley had happened upon something shady that he wasn't expecting. He was in DC on business, supposedly to try and hunt down a Karnak demon that had been sighted in Washington. It was considered a one-man job and so he'd been sent in alone. He hadn't even left the airport when he dropped the mission like a hot potato. Just a jet was taking off, he saw two men in civilian attire, though obviously military given the area, shift. In their place, just for a fraction of a second, were two demons.

It was so brief he thought he might have hallucinated. Riley considered for a long moment and then began tailing them. He simply couldn't chance that he'd been wrong by killing them, but he also couldn't lose them. If he was right, then to members of the military, at least, were compromised.

His covert surveillance of the two provided more evidence to Finn's mind. If these really were two soldiers, then their situational awareness was crap. Again he hesitated. It was an unfortunate fact that the military had people who were essentially desk jockeys. The two could be them. It was the café, spitting distance from NID Headquarters no less, that provided him with more evidence. A blonde woman whose very presence gave the appearance of a hyper-vigilant soldier was sitting with a slimy-looking Air Force guy who could only be NID.

Fin nearly snorted as the blonde harangued the Air Force Colonel, Maybourne apparently, for being an idiot and ignoring her foothold declaration. The moron had apparently breached procedure and brought in the very people the woman believed to be compromised. Finn smiled. Her certainty regarding a foothold situation bolstered the evidence of his own eyes. Oh yes. This was definitely a pair of demons.

Finn scanned the café and quickly concluded that a takedown there was out of the question. There were simply too many witnesses… too many innocent bystanders as well… He simply listened covertly to the conversation as the demons and the idiot managed to convince the woman to go back to the SGC with them. It was bad for her, but it offered Finn the opportunity to get them isolated from the civvies. He backed off and went for his car.

Samantha Carter was beginning to feel her frustration boiling over. She still couldn't believe that Maybourne had called the SGC when she had claimed a foothold situation had compromised her chain of command. The SGC dealt with aliens on a regular basis. A foothold by them was a terrifyingly legitimate threat.

She had to credit the aliens though. If she hadn't been fully certain that they were lying, she would have doubted her own story. They were very smooth. And now she was on the tarmac, heading towards Maybourne's plane and then into the lion's den. She shuddered at the thought of her and Maybourne going in there alone. At least before she'd had Teal'c to back her up. Now all she had was an aging NID colonel with questionable judgement.

"Colonel Maybourne, sir. It's good to finally meet you." Confused by the sudden interruption of her thoughts, Carter turned to see a handsome man in civilian attire approaching Maybourne with a casual smile and his hand held out in preparation for a handshake. Apparently this guy hadn't met Maybourne and thought he might be a nice guy. Poor sap.

The good colonel was apparently just as confused as she was, since he questioned the man, even as they shook hands. "Do I know you, son?"

The man smiled ruefully. "Not as yet, sir. I'm Major Riley Finn, USMC. I'm on assignment for the DRI here in DC and I'd hoped to talk to you about the local situation."

Maybourne apparently recognised something important in that odd spiel, but Sam could honestly say she didn't know the acronym DRI from a hole in the ground. "I'm sorry, son. I'd like to help you, but I've got a priority tasking that I've got to deal with here. Perhaps I can refer you to Lieutenant Colonel Simmons as the NID. I think he might have a hand free at the moment."

The brunet major smiled benignly. "Really, sir? It just seemed to me that our taskings might have crossed."

Maybourne stiffened at that and Sam couldn't really blame him. Was this Finn implying he knew about the SGC. "What exactly do you think you know about my tasking, Major?" Harry's voice was ice cold.

Finn's smile never wavered. "Only what I see in front of me, sir." And the major lashed a side kick into the kneecap of Colonel O'Neill's doppelganger and held a gun on Daniel's. "I think you might be right about that foothold you described, Ma'am." Finn spoke cooly to Sam "I caught sight of these two…" He gestured to the captured doppelgangers, "on the tarmac and their images wavered for a moment. They're definitely not who they seem to be. I'm not sure what kind of demons they are, but they're certainly not human."

Sam blinked in confusion. "Demons? They're not…"

Maybourne cut her off. "Major Carter is not in the know, Major Finn. She has a different MOS* then you. That being said, these two are not what you believe them to be."

The brunet shook his head determinedly. "I know what I saw, Colonel. Those two are not human."

Maybourne finally conceded Sam's earlier point, much to her relief. "That's as may be, Major, but they are not what you believe them to be, either."

Finn's face could have been carved from a block of granite. "Then they are something else that can shapeshift and has apparently infiltrated a US Military Base. The SGC, wasn't it?"

Sam felt her face flame. Maybe Maybourne had been the teensiest bit right about her being a bit off her game, but between getting drugged and having been up for far too many hours straight, she should get a little slack.

Maybourne appeared to consider for a long while, taking in the two apparent humans that she and Finn now had in custody. The two still looked like Jack and Daniel, but apparently Finn's corroboration was shaking Maybourne's certainty in his position. "All right, let's get these two on the plane. Finn, you're with us. You're about to be read into something else that's ridiculously top secret. We'll sort out the red tape later.

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I'll bet half of you thought I could only write Xander Harris. Well... let's find out if you're right. Welcome to World 703 of what will eventually be the Crisis of Infinite Scoobies. I hope you enjoy.

 _Jasper_


	2. The Enemy's Gate is Down

I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Stargate. They belong to Joss Whedon and MGM, I think... This chapter contains spoilers for the SG-1 episode 'Foothold'.

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 ** _Chapter II: The Enemy's Gate is Down_**

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"So… Aliens." Riley's head was starting to hurt. On the one hand, aliens were easier to explain than demons. Aliens presumably conformed to natural laws and could be scientifically proven and studied. On the other hand… yet more weirdness in Finn's life. He tried desperately to regulate his breathing and calm down. Aliens probably weren't that much stronger than humans, as a rule. Their primary advantage over humanity would probably be technological and the SGC was supposed to be evening the odds by acquiring technology through this… Stargate.

A sardonic grin passed across the blonde major's face as Samantha Carter took in his reaction. "It's quite a tale to take in, isn't it?"

Finn simply massaged his head to try to ease the headache aside. "Yes and no. It's not the strangest thing I've ever been read in on, but it's up there… and the idea of your weird being stacked up on top of my existing weird is more than a little disconcerting. Still… I'm a big boy. I'll deal with it."

Riley took the time to look over his two travelling companions. Carter appeared to be somewhat surprised that he claimed 'her weird' wasn't as shocking as 'his weird'. No doubt an explanation of demons would be in the offing after this foothold had been taken care of. Colonel Maybourne, on the other hand, was apparently read in on the DRI and was therefore unsurprised by Finn's relatively easy acceptance of the new order of the world. "I think we should probably plan things out for taking back the SGC."

Maybourne's face was grim and he nodded his acceptance. "I've got a dozen NID agents travelling to Colorado Springs in secret. They'll meet us at the airport. I've also sent an alert to Washington, telling them that the area needs to be cordoned off until we clear it with the correct passwords. The President is deeply concerned about this type of threat and has said that if we can't retake the SGC inside of 24 hours, they are going to have to level Cheyenne Mountain."

Everyone winced at that idea. While the second Stargate would still be available to Earth for research and defence, the loss of the entire SGC, not to mention the other strategic assets that called the mountain home, would be devastating to the United States and the Earth as a whole. Finn considered for a long moment and then spoke up. "With all due respect, Sir, is it really a good idea for the SGC to be housed under Cheyenne Mountain. I understand that we want somewhere that is easily contained and guarded and all, but shouldn't we be housing it separately from NORAD. That just seems like housing too many eggs in one basket, especially when you consider the very real danger of a foothold situation."

The aging colonel reluctantly agreed. "You're right, Finn. Assuming that all goes well with retaking the SGC, I think that General Hammond, the President and I will need to have a long talk about the continued viability of the SGC's location. There must be a better place we can put them, that won't seriously compromise national security every time something hiccups, maybe somewhere nice and isolated. We'll look into it."

While Carter obviously didn't like the implied criticism of her base, even she had to admit that the SGC was a potential security risk that NORAD should not need to suffer. There were other options that were not located in one of the most strategically important bases in the United States. She apparently decided to get things moving back in the direction of their immediate problem. The SGC's future could be decided once it was discovered if they had one at all. "Once we get into the SGC, Colonel Maybourne and myself should take the lead. We're the ones who are most familiar with the layout, especially me.

Finn nodded his acquiescence and was pleased to see the colonel could apparently see the sense in it as well. It was nice to see that the man's earlier foolishness hadn't been the be all and end all of the man. "Then I suppose we should get to looking over our friendly prisoners." Riley cast an ugly look at the three bound aliens that looked like military individuals, though apparently Daniel Jackson was a civilian attaché of some sort. The third alien was impersonating a Major Davis, which was of major concern since the man was a Pentagon attaché to the SGC.

Maybourne offered an equally ugly smile. "I couldn't agree more, Major Finn. I daresay even Major Carter won't feel her heart bleed much for these particular aliens."

The blonde major was stone-faced. "Not this time…"

* * *

The inspection and interrogation of the three aliens had proven very educational. They had figured out that the shape-shifting was a technological, rather than biological effect and had quickly discerned how to use the devices to shift into O'Neill, Jackson and Davis, though they couldn't begin to guess at how to change them to simulate someone else as yet. A flickering of the image during the ride, combined with Finn's earlier observation of flickering allowed Carter to speculate on the frequency of the sound from the jet engines being disruptive of the shift. A brief stopover at an NID lab had allowed Carter to build a set of sonic devices that could dirupt the shift when turned on. They could be attached to rifle scopes to allow them to reveal any aliens in their immediate area.

Maybourne glared at the NID agents standing before him. "Remember people. Anyone who turns into a purple alien when that noise is blaring is the enemy. Shoot to kill. Do not let any of them get away if you can help it. Any humans are presumed friendlies, though they may not realise that we are. Tell anyone that is not one of these purple-bellies to stand down and work with us. Finding out they have aliens in their midst should be enough to make them trust us. Any questions?" Maybourne smiled in grim satisfaction. His superiors would normally give him hell about not trying to preserve aliens for study, but he figured that the three they already had should be enough to please the brass. Retaking the base was the priority now.

He glanced at the two majors that were to accompany him. Finn was reputed to be a solid operator and one of the few survivors of the Initiative's run. He had enough intelligence to know when to toss his orders out the window and to do what was needed to protect his country. He was an asset. Carter's mind was, of course, a national treasure, though he was starting to gain a lot of respect for her as an operator. He'd made the mistake of dismissing her valid concerns and had nearly been burned by it. He wouldn't make that mistake again. "Good. Then let's move out, people."

Getting into Cheyenne Mountain was easy as lying. He and Carter were expected. With Finn and his two top agents pretending to be O'Neill, Jackson and Davis, nobody was the wiser. The remaining agents entered through secret escape routes that Carter had pointed out.

The battle for Cheyenne Mountain would be swift and decisive. They managed to get almost every last one of the purple-bellies dead on the ground. There were reputedly a few that were already offworld on the creatures' home planet. It was unfortunate, but there was nothing much that they could do about that. The missing SGC members had been found in a storage area and had almost all been awakened by their alien counterparts dying. Maybourne smiled grimly. Not a good day, perhaps, but a successful one. Goodness only knew what tomorrow would bring.

* * *

And here is the next installment

Jasper


	3. You Are Cordially Invited

I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Stargate. They belong to Joss Whedon and MGM, I think...

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 ** _Chapter III: You are Cordially Invited…_**

"Welcome to Stargate Command, Major Finn. I only wish that you were visiting our command under more pleasant circumstances." General Hammond was a portly man in his sixties who, nonetheless, conveyed a great deal of authority in both his voice and gaze.

Riley was honestly rather impressed. The Initiative had suffered terribly from poor leadership. Goodness knew that Walsh was the worst, but she wasn't the only one. "It's an honour to be here, Sir. I'm glad that we could be of some help to your command."

The general offered a genteel and polite smile at that. "The help was certainly welcome." He stiffened a little before continuing. "And your help was appreciated, as well, Colonel Maybourne." Finn could tell that particular sentiment hadn't tasted good to the general. Apparently there was some unpleasant history between these people and Maybourne.

The smarmy colonel was polite enough to ignore the slight tinge of dislike that everyone in the room knew was being directed at him and simply accepted the sentiment. "I too was happy to help, General, though it should be noted that Major Carter's actions in getting the word out were beyond exemplary, considering the less than ideal circumstances. I intend to see her put in for a commendation, at least."

The blonde major blushed faintly at the praise but remained silent as Colonel O'Neill, offered up a quiet "Attagirl,' which was missed by no one and that amused everyone present except for the still-blushing recipient.

Hammond, while certainly as amused as the rest, decided to get back to the meat of the meeting. "I'm given to understand that you and Major Finn had something you wished to discuss regarding the future of my command, Colonel." The unhappy tone was even stronger now, making Riley seriously wonder what Maybourne had done to piss off a general so much.

Maybourne once more ignored the obvious dislike. "Actually, Major Finn was the one who made this suggestion, but upon consideration I believe it is worth bringing to the president. The fact of the matter is that Stargate Command has proven itself to be susceptible to infiltration and serious foothold situations. This is no particular fault of your command, of course. It is simply a threat that we must accept if we want to keep using the Stargate. The reality is, though, that we simply cannot afford to have such a threat located under NORAD.

"Any foothold that compromises your command has the potential to instantly take over one of our other major assets for maintaining our national security. This foothold nearly caused the president to order an aerial strike that would level the mountain. Losing Stargate Command would have been a serious setback, certainly, but losing NORAD too would have been a body blow that our country might not have ever recovered from."

Hammond looked like he had swallowed a whole barrel of lemon juice. Still, it was readily apparent that he took Maybourne's point. The colonel's effort at not actually taking shots at the general's command itself probably made the grim reality much more palatable. "What do you and the major recommend, Colonel?"

Maybourne shrugged. "It seems obvious to me. I'm suggesting that you, I and whoever else you trust get our heads together and find a more appropriate site from which to fight our interstellar war with the Goa'uld. Once we have a site picked out, or a series of favoured options, then we present the idea to the president. I can't speak for him, of course, but I feel confident that he'll sign off on anything that's reasonable after this little scare we've had."

Hammond appeared to be surprised and pleased with the way the conversation was flowing. While it was obvious to everyone that he wasn't entirely happy with Maybourne inviting himself to sit at the table, so to speak, Maybourne's suggestions and his willingness to leave everyone else involved up to the general had apparently soothed any issues the general had. Hammond actually managed a sincere smile. "That seems like an equitable solution, Harry." He hesitated for a long moment. "I'm hopeful that this might be a good first step towards a better relationship between the NID and this command."

Oh yes. There was some nasty history there. Finn was more certain of that with every moment. It was impossible to say what, of course, but the evidence was practically screaming and waving its arms. Finn finally spoke up again. "I'm glad to hear that will be happening, Sir. This is not the first, and certainly not the worst, foothold situation I've seen. I shudder to think what would have happened if you had a foothold of such a severity as what I've seen occur this close to NORAD."

The general appeared to look at him with new eyes. "Are you permitted to say what project you were affiliated with, Major? I'm not familiar with many footholds of such severity. Not anything recent, anyway."

Finn bit his lip and offered a questioning glance at Maybourne. The colonel apparently took pity on him. "General Hammond is in the know, Major, but SG-1 doesn't have the clearance or the knowledge, as yet. Keep it to project names, general descriptions and standard acronyms, for now. Maybe SG-1 can be read in later, but that's not for any of us here to determine."

SG-1 seemed irritated that they were being kept out of the loop, but the general seemed to appreciate the gravity of the situation. "I was a part of the DRI project known as the Initiative. We were assigned to deal in the capture, destruction and research of HSTs. The former commander of the Initiative got into a science project from hell that caused a foothold so bad that it killed her and left less than five percent of the military personnel alive. Civilian personnel were dead to the last man, save for a local and unaffiliated civilian response unit that mobilised and assisted in the takedown of the science project in question."

The general and SG-1 were all very grim at that recitation. While Hammond was the only one who knew of the project name and the acronyms on offer, even those not in the know could still appreciate the sheer decimation such figures indicated. It was ugly with a capital U. Hammond finally breached the grim silence. "I'm surprised you survived, Son. I'm well aware of what HSTs are said to be capable of."

Maybourne smoothly spoke up, at that. "The civilian response unit that the major mentioned is extremely effective and experienced when dealing with HSTs. They have quite a few priority targets to their ledgers, including the aforementioned science experiment. Finn was apparently the one who helped acquire their assistance in the Initiative, before the person in charge leaped off the deep end. It was an official NID project," he said, gaining a few sneers and ugly looks from some of SG-1 and a grimace from Hammond, "but even the most ardent of our people were shocked at what that madwoman got up to. She apparently was not well versed in her classic literature."

Finn offered a sardonic grin to his superior, recognising the folly of Walsh for the frighteningly parallel of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. "Agreed. Much like in the book, the good doctor fell prey to her own creation."

Hammond obviously mouthed Frankenstein as he mentally put two and two together regarding the science project that had been referenced. "I certainly hope that her research died with her, then." The man spent a long moment considering all that he'd heard, before apparently coming to a decision. "Exactly how married are you to the DRI, Major?"

Finn smirked at the odd expression. "I suppose you could say we're trying to decide if we still love each other after a short separation period, Sir. Why? Is the SGC looking to woo me after a quick divorce proceeding?"

That response garnered a chuckle from both colonels and a surprised laugh from the general. After he regained control, though, Hammond did not beat around the bush. "You've got a pretty interesting resumé from what you and Harry have said, and you've certainly proven yourself useful to this command over the past few days. Pending a thorough examination of your service record and any other files of import, I would like to offer you a place in this command…"

The DRI was a cause that had really spoken to him. The fact was, though, that they didn't really do the sort of saving the world stuff that Finn had gotten addicted too as a member of the Scoobies. Here was an enemy that he could fight with similar stakes, and yet a closer physical parity. It seemed like the best of both worlds. "I would be honored, Sir? Was there any particular duties you had in mind for me?"

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Welcome to August. In addition to my normal updates, every two weeks on the Saturday, I will be attempting to post one update or short story of some sort per day. I hope you enjoy it.

 _Jasper_


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